fan fiction is closer than you think

19 Jan, 2010 • posts i've written • 2 comments

When I’ve worked with brands in the past and have brought up examples of fan fiction (studied intensively by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford and the like) as perfect vehicles to understand fan motivations, and in turn, to demonstrate how to create an environment ripe for more progressive consumer engagement, the typical reaction is that squeamish face – you know the one.

The one that says, “Ew, those fans are weird.”

Sure, we all had a friend in college that wrote erotic Harry Potter fan-fic. Who didn’t?

I think we often forget that when people operate at the extremes, especially in the creation of art, they’re trying to demonstrate an advanced ability or understanding of the original thing itself. It’s creation as performance (and vice-versa).

But we don’t have to go running to the extremes to be face to face with fan fiction. Hell, it’s in our grocery stores.

Look at those celebrity gossip mags. Just take a look, buy one, and give it a thorough read. It’s commercial fan-fiction… an industry built on the principle.

As far as I know, Michelle Obama didn’t pull an Elin Nordegren on President Obama over the weekend, but I can read about it happening in the Inquirer.

These mags realize a simple truth: there are some characters in the world that we’re all fans of in some way or another (fans or anti-fans, really). We know a good deal about their lives, their tribulations, and the cast of characters floating around them. So why invest costly amounts of ink, paper, and capital creating new characters for us to get to know, when we’ve got the really popular ones we can play with? Characters that we can paint into new situations (that might be extended from previous ones) over and over again.

Honestly, these mags realize a truth that even most brands still don’t comprehend – start with people, places, and things that are already cared about and extend their stories to new heights. It’s a simple, effective, and proven way to begin an engagement with groups of people. This doesn’t mean you should hire Will.i.am to do yet another cameo, you should play with the unexpected – that’s what people are likely to talk about.

And it’s the act of conversation than gets to the heart of fan-fiction itself. Fans come to believe that they know a character; they know their habits, their attributes, their motives, and even their actions. Some fans take this to a performative place and cast their character in new situations to demonstrate just how well they know them (this is how Harry would act if Voldemort killed Ron… or if Ron showed up nude.).

(I realize for my friends out there that study fan-fic, there are hundreds of glaring examples in every day of fan-fiction; and gossip mags must seem an arbitrary place to start – So I hope they’ll leave some examples in the comments for readers to follow.)

mad recognition

28 Jan, 2009 • posts i've written • No comments

What a week! First off, Henry Jenkins himself, the father of Convergence Culture, posted an entry about my report into my time as one of the Mad Men characters on Twitter. And then New York Magazine online picked it up and wrote a little ditty.

I’m pretty elated by Henry’s recognition of my blood, sweat, and welling of tears. Henry’s work, along with the work of his research assistants and students, is absolutely essential to the future of entertainment and culture (and more importantly to me, Henry has given me immeasurable inspiration). Beyond my mere involvement, I’m excited at how much attention fan work is receiving these days. It’s a good sign of the times. But it means there’s so much more to do and say and explore. Are you game?

After Henry posted his thoughts, a representative of Deep Focus quickly commented on the piece. Although I disagree with some of what he said, he was absolutely right by pointing out the hard work of the other Mad Men characters. If they do ever choose to reveal themselves publicly, I hope they finally can receive the personal recognition they deserve. You guys and gals really did blow me away.

I guess I need to add a press page to my site. I’m kind of a big deal on the internet now.